


inside this place is warm

by thespacenico



Series: klancemas 2018 [14]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ... at first mayhaps........., Adam is stressed, Cuddling, M/M, Pidge is so tired, allura is trying her hardest to be a good pal, broganes, forced cuddling, i hope u guys like this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 21:19:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17108315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thespacenico/pseuds/thespacenico
Summary: klancemas day fourteen: cuddles





	inside this place is warm

**Author's Note:**

> :)
> 
> the title is from sweater weather by the neighborhood hehe  
> (i didn't get a chance to read over this for typos so sorry but i hope you guys enjoy it anyway 💕)

Lance is acting weird and Keith is trying not to panic.

Not _that_ weird, but like—he hasn’t made eye contact with Keith a single time all day, even amongst all his dumb jokes and all the the time they’ve spent in the same room, even if there’s always been other people present. He hasn’t really said anything directly to him either, which makes it that much more obvious.

Obvious enough that both Shiro and Adam pull him aside at some point like they’re his—mothers, or something, with those concerned looks on their faces. “Did something happen?” Shiro asks carefully.

But not carefully enough, because Keith pulls his hood over his head and draws the strings so it scrunches over his face and scowls. “It’s none of your business.” He’s only barely able to see them glance at each other, and then he sighs and slumps his shoulders. “It’s a long story,” he mumbles. “I don’t know what’s going on either.”

Adam pulls the hood off Keith’s head. “Did you tell him?”

“No, I just—” Keith shakes his head. “Look, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Adam looks like he wants to protest, but Shiro steps in and squeezes his shoulder. “Okay, we’ll leave it alone. Sorry, kiddo.”

And they don’t say anything, but Keith knows that Pidge and Hunk have noticed too, if their sympathetic looks are anything to go by. Allura practically looks distraught every time they’re in the same room, and Keith feels bad that _she_ feels bad because he knows it’s not her fault but he’s just as confused.

He’s really just scared that he did something wrong. Maybe he still has a crush on Allura that she just doesn’t know about. There’s no way she’d be purposely leading Keith to believe otherwise only to be let down, so—there has to be some other explanation.

“He’s doing that thing,” Hunk notes when Lance leaves the game room in the middle of his game of pool to get a snack from the kitchen.

“You mean that twitchy thing?” Pidge asks from where she’s sitting beside Keith on the ping pong table, squinting at something on her handheld.

“Yeah, the twitchy thing he does when he’s nervous or something.”

Keith tries not to twitch.

Allura is staring after Lance with her brow creased, chewing on her lip. Hunk knocks a ball into a corner pocket. Pidge glances up long enough to look at Keith. “He’s done this before. Just give him like, a day. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not worrying about it,” Keith grumbles, shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie.

“Mhm,” Pidge says unconvincingly, returning to her handheld.

And then Keith sees Allura get up from her spot on the floor to leave the room and he has a brief moment of panic.

“Where are you going?” he blurts.

She freezes at the door and everyone turns to look at him, and he kind of wishes he could just shrink into his hoodie. Allura looks trapped. “I was just—well—”

Pidge sets her handheld down, looking a little exasperated. “Keith, chill.”

“I am—chill,” Keith argues.

Hunk misses his shot and sighs. “Dude, it’s okay to admit that you’re kind of freaking out a little.”

“A lot,” Pidge corrects.

“I’m not—” Keith pulls his hood up and falls onto his back with a huff while ignoring Pidge’s tired sigh. Which was the perfect opportunity for Allura to slip out of the room unnoticed, because when he sits back up, she’s gone. He tugs the hood over his eyes and groans.

He can practically hear Hunk and Pidge sharing a look from across the room. Pidge pokes his arm. “I think he’s broken.”

“I’m going to my room,” Keith announces, slipping off the table without bothering to remove the hood.

“Wait!” Hunk starts. “Keith wait, we’re just trying to—”

Keith leaves.

 

 **Adam W > Keith K  
**December 14th, 5:33 PM

 **Adam W:** hey, we’re going into town for some groceries so dinner will be kind of late tonight  
are you feeling up to coming with?

 **Keith K:** i don’t know  
i think i’ll just stay here if that’s okay

 **Adam W:** that’s fine  
but just to let you know, lance is staying too

 **Keith K:** on second thought maybe i’ll tag along

 **Adam W:** too late  
we’re leaving

 **Keith K:** no stop i’m coming

 **Adam W:** takashi is pulling out of the driveway

 **Keith K:** adam i’m literally putting my shoes on right now tell him to wait

 **Adam W:** sorry what? i can’t really hear you

 **Keith K:** YOU ARE A GROWN MAN WITH EYES ADAM  
TELL SHIRO TO STOP THE CAR

 

By the time Keith wrenches the front door open without even bothering to grab his coat and stumbles out onto the deck, the car is—gone.

“I’m gonna kill you,” he calls in the direction of the tire tracks. He kicks at a lump of snow and makes a frustrated noise. “Oh my god, I’m gonna kill him,” he mutters.

“Keith?” Keith jumps and whips around to see Lance poking his head out of the door with an amused look on his face. He opens the door a little wider and steps outside, despite the fact that it’s _freezing_ and he’s in a T-shirt and not even wearing shoes. “What are you doing? You’re letting all the cold air inside.”

“I was—” Keith glances back toward the tire tracks in the snow as Lance closes the door, feeling caught. “Uh—I was just trying to catch everyone before they left.”

Lance huffs a laugh. “They left you behind?”

 _Can’t really leave me behind when I wasn’t planning on going in the first place,_ Keith sighs inwardly. “Not exactly.” Lance blinks at him, and he shuffles a little. “Anyway, it’s fine.” They both just kind of stand there for a moment. Keith wonders if Lance feels as awkward as he does. A small gust of wind blows across the porch, and Keith shivers. “Aren’t you freezing?”

Lance looks down at his socks like he’s just now realizing he’s very poorly dressed for the current situation. “Yeah, it’s really cold out here.”

He still doesn’t move. Keith is—confused. “So, let’s go inside then?”

Lance seems to start a little. “Right! Let’s go inside.”

Keith just shakes his head as Lance turns and goes to open the door, pushing his shoulder against it only it—doesn’t open. He freezes. Keith frowns. “Lance?”

Lance tries again. Nothing happens. “What,” he mutters. Keith walks across the deck and looks over his shoulder as he tries a third time.

“Lance?” he says again, slowly.

He whips around. “Yes?” he squeaks.

Keith squints at him. “Did you lock us out of the cabin?”

“Um.” Lance shifts a little, looking sheepish. “I don’t know if I would say locked out, per se, but—” He quickly steps out of the way when Keith moves for the door, pulling his hands to his chest and watching as Keith jiggles the doorknob.

He sighs. “You locked us out.”

Lance’s voice gets small. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I know, just—” Keith rubs his forehead. There are other ways to get into the cabin. No reason to panic yet. “I’ll go check the back,” Keith says eventually. “Maybe those doors are unlocked.”

“Do you—want me to come with you?” Lance asks.

“I’m not letting you walk through the snow in your socks,” Keith scoffs, already hopping down the steps and starting across the yard to the other side of the cabin. “Just stay here.”

Keith pulls his hood up and folds his arms against the cold as he rounds the corner and makes his way to the back. He steps onto the patio and checks the sliding door. It doesn’t open. “Of course,” he mutters. “Of course _now_ it’s locked.”

Lance is still waiting on the porch when he comes back. “It was locked?” he asks as Keith is climbing up the steps, shaking the snow off his boots. Keith just nods, and Lance tugs at his shirt sleeve. “Maybe we can just call Adam so they can come back and let us in?”

“I guess that’s our only option at this point,” Keith agrees, sliding a hand into his pocket and finding—nothing. Lance’s eyes widen a little when he swears and starts patting down all of his pockets, closing his eyes and dropping his head back. “I left my handheld in my room.”

“Oh.”

“I’m guessing yours is inside too?”

Lance wraps his arms around himself. “Yeah.” Keith rubs his forehead again and Lance seems to shrink into himself a little. “How long are they gonna be gone?”

“I mean—” Keith drops his arm to his side. “It takes twenty minutes to get to town, and then they have to shop and drive twenty minutes back, so—” He sighs. “A while.”

“So do we just wait until they get back?”

Keith shrugs, but he can already feel the cold seeping through the sleeves of his hoodie. “That’s all we can really do, I guess.”

Lance watches as he sinks down onto the porch and sits back against the wall, hands still tucked against his chest. He shuffles his feet a little and looks down. “Sorry.”

“Lance—” Keith huffs a laugh. “It’s fine. It was an accident.”

He still seems a little hesitant, but Lance finally sits down about an arm’s length away and brings his knees up to his chest, poking at his toes. “At least I’m wearing my fuzzy socks, I guess,” he says.

Keith snorts, and Lance shoots him a relieved sort of smile, and suddenly everything feels kind of normal again. “What are you doing wearing a T-shirt out in the snow, anyway?”

“It’s not like I was expecting to get stuck outside!”

“Don’t you get cold in the cabin?”

“Not really?”

Another gust of wind blows across the porch and Lance squints against it, wrapping his arms around himself and shivering a little. Keith bites his lip. “You’re gonna freeze.”

“I’ll be fine,” Lance protests. Keith just looks at him for another moment, and then Lance’s eyes widen again when he pulls his hoodie over his head (and holy quiznak it is _freezing_ ) and holds it out. Lance stares at it. “What are you doing?”

Keith tugs his T-shirt down and waves it at him. “Put it on.”

“What—” Lance’s ears go red. “No! I’m not taking your hoodie—”

“Just take it,” Keith presses. “I can probably handle the cold better than you.”

Lance splutters. “Just because you’re half-alien doesn’t mean—”

Keith tosses it at him and he barely catches it. “Don’t be stubborn.”

“Keith—”

“I’m not putting it back on,” he adds, pulling his knees up. “So _you_ might as well wear it.”

Lance glares a little when Keith pointedly looks away as if to end the conversation, but eventually he sighs loudly and grumpily pulls the hoodie over his head. “Stubborn,” he mutters, and the corners of Keith’s mouth pull up into a smile.

They sit quietly for a while. Keith props his arms on his knees and taps his boots on the deck and tries to ignore the way his skin is prickling from the cold. Lance busies himself staring at his feet, rubbing his hands over his socks as if to keep them warm.

Keith finds it completely unfair how his hoodie looks better on Lance than it does on him. At some point, Lance pulls the sleeves over his hands and rests them on his knees and it takes everything Keith has not to die because it’s so freaking— _cute,_ even if the circumstances are way less than ideal.

The good news is, Adam had already turned on the porch light before everyone left because it was starting to get dark outside. The bad news is, it’s getting darker fast, which means it’s only getting colder. Keith wedges his hands underneath his knees to keep his fingers warm, but that only does so much, especially considering that his arms are still freezing.

Eventually it’s impossible for him not to shiver, and that’s when Lance tries to give him his hoodie back.

Lance frowns at him. “You’re freezing.”

Keith shakes his head. “I’m fine.”

“I think your face is turning blue.”

“My face is not turning blue, Lance.” He glances at him out the corner of his eye when he hears some movement. “Stop that.”

Lance huffs, one sleeve of the hoodie already pulled off his arm. “Keith, you’re shivering like crazy over there, and it’s only getting colder.”

“I said I’m fine.”

Lance starts to pull the other sleeve off. “You could be bleeding out and dying and you would say that you’re fine.”

“If you take it off I’ll throw it into the snow and then neither of us can wear it,” Keith threatens.

“Oh my god,” Lance mutters, but he grouchily tugs his arms back through the sleeves and crosses his arms over his chest.

Satisfied, Keith tucks himself a little tighter. “How long do you think it’s been?”

“Not very long,” Lance grumbles. “You’re gonna die from the cold.”

“Twenty minutes, at least?”

“You’re gonna get frostbite.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “I’ll be _fine._ Don’t worry about me.”

Lance doesn’t say anything, but he frowns at his knees and bites his lip. Keith leans back against the wall, but it’s cold, so he moves back. He shivers again.

“Oh my god,” Lance mutters again, and then before Keith can react he’s scooting over and worming his arm underneath Keith’s and wrapping it around so he can press closer, and it’s warm thank goodness but also _what is happening._ Keith tries not to tense too obviously and he tries not to panic but that’s hard when Lance is so close and he’s only getting closer what is _happening._

Lance leans his knees against Keith’s and presses even closer. “Is this okay?”

“Um—yeah,” Keith manages. “It’s—yeah, it’s okay.”

Lance seems to relax in response, curling his other arm around him until he’s basically hugging Keith’s arm. “Is this helping at all?”

“Yeah,” Keith says honestly.

“Okay.” Lance is quiet for a moment, which Keith is glad for because he’s still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Lance is practically attached to his arm right now, and he really hopes that Lance can’t hear how fast his heart is beating right now. “It’s getting really dark.”

“Yeah,” Keith answers, because apparently that’s the only word in his vocabulary anymore.

Lance leans down and rests his head against the side of Keith’s shoulder and Keith thinks he might have a heart attack. “Sorry I got us locked out.”

Keith takes a deep breath and relaxes, letting himself lean into Lance even if his heart is still beating a million beats a second. “You didn’t mean to.”

“Adam’s gonna get mad at us,” Lance mumbles.

“No, he’ll just—fret.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Lance.”

Lance pulls the sleeves over his hands again and wiggles them a little. “Sorry if I’ve been—weird today.”

Keith bites his lip. “Um, yeah. I mean, you’ve been—kind of weird.” He pauses. Lance shifts a tiny bit. “You’re always weird though.”

He smiles a little when Lance giggles, his shoulder shaking slightly where it’s pressed against Keith’s arm. “Thanks.”

Eventually it gets too cold for either of them to want to talk very much. Neither of them can stop shivering. It takes almost all of Keith’s focus to keep his teeth from chattering, and even with Keith’s hoodie, it doesn’t take long for Lance to start sniffling. All they can really do is huddle together and try to keep as warm as possible, which—honestly, isn’t very warm.

Keith has no idea how long they wait out there. But when the headlights of Adam’s car pull into the driveway, he and Lance are so frigid they can hardly move. “I think my toes fell off,” Lance mumbles, and Keith laughs but he’s so cold that it shakes.

Of course Adam is the first out of the car, and he doesn’t even seem surprised to see Keith and Lance sitting on the porch in the dark in the freezing cold wearing hardly anything but T-shirts and one hoodie. He’s already pulling off his coat as he rushes up the steps, and promptly tosses it at Keith before quickly unlocking the door and muttering something about not being able to leave the two of them alone for five seconds without at least one of them almost dying.

And then Shiro is there with a worried look on his face to help them up (Lance doesn’t let go of Keith’s arm) and ushering them inside, and Keith sighs in relief at the rush of warm air that hits his entire body. Lance gets pried away from him at some point, and someone—Pidge, probably—is helping him put on Adam’s coat and then he and Lance are both being shoved onto the couch side-by-side.

Keith can’t stop shivering, and he remembers everyone sort of crowding around them, but Shiro shows up with blankets and Adam shoos everyone away while Shiro’s piling them all on top of them. Lance leans heavily into Keith, and this time he immediately leans back because they’re both _freezing._  

“I don’t understand them,” Adam mutters—frets. “I don’t—Takashi, how in the world did you deal with them in space for so long?”

“Patience yields focus,” Shiro tries.

Adam just sighs and Shiro shoots them both a sympathetic glance before following him into the kitchen.

Lance sniffles a little. Keith glances at him. “Are you okay?”

“M’fine,” Lance nods, his voice muffled by where his chin is tucked underneath the blankets. “Are you?”

“Better,” Keith allows. He sneezes. Lance giggles.

“I think we’re both gonna catch a cold.”

“I think we already did,” Keith mumbles, and Lance giggles again.

“Sorry.”

Keith pulls his knees up and focuses on the warmth of Lance’s arm pressed against his. “You don’t have to keep apologizing.”

“I just feel bad,” Lance sniffs.

“I mean—” Keith hesitates. “It wasn’t—all bad.”

Lance is quiet for a second. “Yeah?” he asks softly.

Keith looks down at where the toes of his boots are sticking out from underneath the blankets. “Yeah.”

Neither of them talk for a minute, trying to soak in as much warmth from the blankets and each other as possible. Keith is slowly regaining feeling in his toes. He can hear Adam and Shiro murmuring quietly to one another in the kitchen, and smell the beginnings of whatever Adam is making for dinner, when suddenly Lance’s arm shifts the tiniest bit against Keith’s and—

—and his heart _leaps_ into his throat when he feels Lance’s hand brush up against his. And not even his hand—just his finger, only the slightest, ghost of a touch—but it’s there. It’s there, and it sends a sort of thrilling sensation all over his body, making his heart race and breath catch and warmth spread everywhere from the inside out. Then he finds himself holding his breath as he holds completely still, and waits.

 _Grab his hand, you idiot,_ half of his brain yells.

 _No, what if he freaks out?_ The other half counters. _What if you’re reading the signs totally wrong, what if—_

 _Grab!!! His!!! Hand!!!_ The first half yells again.

 _Oh my_ god, Keith thinks.

By then it doesn’t really matter. He’s not sure who moves first—only that one second just their little fingers are touching, and the next he feels Lance’s palm brushing over his knuckles; Keith bites his lip and tentatively opens his hand, Lance curls his own underneath, and Keith squeezes his eyes shut as they both move carefully to entwine their fingers together.

He doesn’t think he’s breathing.

“Is this okay?” Lance whispers.

“Yeah,” Keith breathes.

His heart is beating so loudly he swears it’s going to burst out of his chest. Lance shifts just a little more to accommodate, and Keith has to bury the lower half of his face in the blankets to cover the giddy smile spreading uncontrollably across his face.

 _Oh my god what is happening,_ he thinks.

“Are you warm yet?” Lance whispers again.

“Getting there,” Keith manages to whisper back.

Lance squeezes his hand. “Your hand is still freezing.”

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.”

Keith swallows his heart back down the best he can and tries to remember to breathe. He opens his eyes and risks a look at Lance, who’s staring down at his feet on the floor with his lip caught between his teeth and a tiny smile on his face.

So they sit like that for—a while. Buried underneath the blankets, arms pressed together, fingers tangled in the tiny space between them. Keith kind of wants to say something, maybe something like: _I like you so much I can hardly breathe right now,_ or: _I think I’ve liked you for a really long time but I didn’t let myself realize it until like a week ago and now I’m holding your hand and maybe I’m freaking out a little bit._ But at the same time, he’s kind of scared of ruining the moment, so he just—sits, and focuses on the feeling of Lance’s hand in his and the way that Lance is tracing tiny circles across the back of his hand with his thumb to make it warm.

They only let go because Shiro comes back in to tell them that dinner is ready. Their fingers slip out of each other’s hands and Keith immediately misses Lance’s warmth but it feels like they’ve made an unspoken agreement to make all of this—private. Keith keeps his head down and bites his lip to hold back his smile as Shiro helps them pull the blankets off.

“Are you two alright?”

Keith just nods as he stands, not really trusting his voice to hold.

Lance clears his throat, and Keith has to try not to smile again. “I think we’re good.”

Satisfied, Shiro sighs and Keith huffs as he ruffles both their hair. “It’s like you’re _trying_ to give Adam gray hair.”

“That’s karma for leaving me behind,” Keith mutters, and Shiro snorts.

Keith and Lance both sneak a look at each other as they’re following Shiro to the kitchen. Lance smiles shyly, and Keith barely manages to smile back before ducking his head to look down at his feet.  

Adam made soup and Keith thinks it’s very much because of him and Lance. They sit beside each other at the table and eat probably much more soup than anyone should ever consume in one sitting, partly because Adam practically forces them to and partly because they’re still sort of trying to warm up.

Allura frets almost as much as Adam (almost) and Pidge and Hunk tease them for getting locked out and Keith is grateful for it because that’s just one more thing he can blame for the flush in his cheeks other than the cold.

Adam makes both of them take hot showers after dinner. Lance tries to give Keith his hoodie back once everyone starts heading to bed. His hair is still kind of wet from his shower when Keith opens his bedroom door and it’s sort of tousled and Keith kind of wants to run his fingers through it.

Lance holds out his hoodie. “Um—thanks for letting me borrow it.”

Keith stares at it for a second, and then he looks up at Lance. “You can hold onto it if you want.”

“Oh.” Lance blinks at him and his cheeks turn a little pink. “Are you sure?”

“You don’t have to,” Keith adds quickly. “I mean, just if—you know. If you want to.”

Lance blinks again, and then Keith feels a warm sense of relief as he slowly retracts his hand. “Okay. Um—thanks.” Keith watches as he steps across the hall to his own room, turning again to look back as he’s closing the door. He shoots him a small smile. “Good night.”

Keith smiles back. “Good night.”

And the second that Keith closes his door he presses his back to it and lets out a huge breath that he feels like he’s been holding in for hours.

 _I think—he likes me._ Keith thinks.

 _Thank you, Captain Obvious,_ his brain says.

He turns off the light, climbs into bed, crawls under the covers and tries to stop smiling like an idiot.

(There’s literally no way he’s going to be able to sleep tonight.)

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on [tumblr](https://www.taxashi.tumblr.com)!  
> 


End file.
